Most ad agencies, were they to launch tomorrow, would never build the same models they currently operate under. But legacy systems resist change. They have to change to survive, but….processes, briefs, department organizations, job definition, talent, etc. will all have to morph significantly. Why is change so hard, even among those who know they have to?

I wonder if when a client rejects an idea for not being ownable they’re really saying something else. They’re suggesting that an agency hasn’t figured out the very best way to express their true essence. What they are. What they stand for. What they believe. What matters most to their consumer and community.

A week ago the pundits were quick to suggest that Yahoo’s purchase of Tumblr was little more than a Hail Mary. How can a company dependent on a dying model (display advertising) and an aging user base stay relevant in the age of social media? Buy a company that his millions of users but not […]

I don’t usually respond to articles in the trades, nor do I get into ranting, but I must say that Mr. Al Ries’s latest Ad Age column offers some pretty weak arguments in favor of hard sell vs soft sell. For starters he confuses taglines with marketing. Taglines are simply expressions of a brand’s behaviors […]